Tracy Quartermaine remains a fan-favorite on General Hospital even as she comes and goes from the canvas.
Jane Elliot originated the character back in 1978 and played Tracy on and off over the years leading up to her 2017 retirement.
In 1989 she took maternity leave and was temporarily replaced with soap actress Christine Jones (Janice, Another World; Catsy, Ryan’s Hope; Pamela, One Life To Live).
In 1996, Elliot even crossed the character over to ABC sister soap The City where she remained until its cancellation in 1997.
She returned to GH in 2003 and departed again in 2017. Although the actress said she’d retired, fans were elated that she reprised her role from December 2019 through February 2020 and again from November 2020 through January 2021.
Then, in January 2022, Tracy popped up again, and in January 2023, it was announced that the actress would be bringing Tracy back to Port Charles for GH’s 60th anniversary in April and a much longer stay.
Tracy is the spoiled daughter of Lila and Edward Quartermaine and has two children of her own: Ned Ashton and Dillon Quartermaine. Ned also gave her a granddaughter, Brook Lynn Ashton.
When Tracy first appeared in Port Charles, she immediately feuded with her brother’s wife, Monica Quartermaine, and tried to prove that her son wasn’t Alan Quartermaine’s but Rick Webber’s.
Edward was furious with her scheming and faked a heart attack to test her loyalty. Sadly, Tracy withheld his medication, and Edward denounced her as his daughter.
In 1989, Tracy came home again needing her mother’s help. She was stunned to discover that her son, Ned, was having an affair with Monica. But the Quartermaine family was thrown into turmoil when it was believed Edward had died in a plane crash. (Thankfully, he hadn’t!) Tracy grew closer to first husband, Larry Ashton, but eventually threw him out and fell for Paul Hornsby. Unfortunately, he left her and their newborn son, Dillon, to be with Jenny Eckert. In a rage, Tracy hit Jenny with her car and the young woman blackmailed her into divorcing Paul. Forced to vacate the Quartermaine mansion, Tracy refused to share custody with Paul and took Dillon with her to Europe.
Tracy returned with a vengeance in 1996, hoping to steal the family company from her son, but failed and ended up moving to New York City where she ended up marrying a gangster, Gino Soleito. Upon his death, she inherited his business, becoming the new “Godmother.”
In 2003, Tracy brought her now-teenaged son, Dillon, home with her, and immediately clashed with Skye over who was the real Quartermaine heir. Luke Spencer tricked Tracy into marrying him so he could get his hands on her money, but she began to actually have feelings for him, which got complicated when his great love, Laura Spencer, came out of a catatonic state. Tracy also had a brief stay in Shadybrook when she was caught having conversations with her dead brother, Alan.
Despite Laura’s return, Luke chose to remain with Tracy, and she only agreed to remarry him if he signed a prenup so she’d know their union was for love and not money. He did, but after the ceremony, Tracy burned it in the fireplace. Anthony Zacchara blackmailed Tracy into marriage, and Luke agreed to help her get rid of the mobster.
Following Edward’s death, Tracy struggled to maintain control of ELQ and ended up involved in a ridiculous battle with A.J. over Pickle Lila, the family relish recipe. Luke and Tracy finally split for good when she wouldn’t take him back and he left town. After Luke suffered through some mental problems, Laura came back into his life and he left Tracy for another adventure with his ex-wife. Tracy ran into Paul Hornsby again and rekindled their relationship which made things awkward when Luke returned and wanted her back. Eventually, Luke left Port Charles for good and Tracy broke up with Paul after finding him in bed with Ava Jerome. Suffering severe headaches, Tracy learned she had brain cancer and after recovering, was horrified to learn that Paul was the serial killer stalking the hospital.
A painting that Edward had left to Tracy brought Samira Adin to Port Charles hoping to acquire it in order to sell it and use the money to save her daughter from human traffickers. Samira’s claims that her mother was close with Edward led Tracy to wonder if they were sisters but DNA tests proved it was all a big scam so Tracy paid Samira off to leave town. Then, Tracy sold the painting herself in order to fund the next chapter of her life, which she decided would not be in Port Charles. She was later seen making a fresh start with Luke in Amsterdam.
Tracy strolled through the front doors of the Quartermaine mansion at Christmas, 2019, and was stunned to find that the place had gotten a major makeover! She was also surprised to see that Brook Lynn was back in Port Charles and confided to Ned that ELQ was in danger of a hostile takeover. Tracy was further taken aback when they learned that Nelle Benson was now in possession of ELQ stock and was moving into the mansion! Furious, Tracy blamed Michael for causing this latest crisis and urged Ned to step in as CEO to fix it. Once Ned assured his mother he had it well in hand, Tracy returned to Amsterdam knowing the family business would be safe.
In November 2020, Tracy returned to Port Charles for another visit and upon learning that Ned had cheated on Olivia with Alexis, tried to get the attorney out of the way by framing her for drunk driving. Of course, the truth eventually came out and as Olivia confronted her cheating hubby, Monica warned Tracy to get out of town because the cops were on their way to arrest her for the false accusation!
Tracy showed up at Laura and Kevin’s door shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day 2022 to reveal that Luke had died in a cable car crash in Austria. After sharing the heartbreaking details, Tracy then found herself arrested for what she’d done to Alexis. Thankfully, she was quickly released from jail after Alexis declined to cooperate with the police. Tracy also put two and two together and realized that Brook Lynn was raising Maxie’s daughter, Louise, but understood the reasons why. At Luke’s memorial service, Tracy offered Laura the Ice Princess, but she refused it. The diamond turned out to be a fake, anyway, and Anna interceded to get the WSB off Tracy’s back and allow her to return to Amsterdam to settle Luke’s affairs.
In April 2023, Tracy showed up as the high bidder for the life of Ethan Lovett at an auction in Venezuela. Working together with Felicia Scorpio and Holly Sutton, they were able to subdue the guards and make a break for it! Back in Port Charles, Tracy returned to the Quartermaine mansion and caught up on all the family gossip. It was revealed that she’d helped Brook Lynn get Harrison Chase reinstated as a police officer, and she also helped persuade Chase to reconcile with Brook Lynn!
However, Tracy collected on the debt Brook Lynn now owed her by forcing her to go back to work at Deception and steal confidential information for her. When Drew Cain threatened to reveal her corporate espionage, Tracy accused him of assaulting Ned and knocking him into the pool, but she quickly retracted her statement when security footage proved it false. After receiving a call from her mysterious partner, Tracy spoke with Diane Miller about representing her in a lawsuit against Deception.
Tracy made it crystal clear to “Eddie” that she would never stop trying to get Ned back. She then stunned the Deception staff by showing up in court with Jackson Montgomery representing her in a lawsuit against the cosmetics company over the rights to The Deceptor. Tracy offered to drop the lawsuit for a majority share in Deception as well as Lucy’s ELQ voting rights, but Lucy refused. It was then revealed that the mysterious person she was working with was Blair Cramer, who was Martin Grey’s ex-wife! She also grew friendly with Gregory Chase and was upset to learn that he was suffering from ALS. Later, a slip of the tongue forced her to confess Greory’s diagnosis to his son, Chase.
Eventually, Lucy gave in and gave Tracy 51% of Deception to settle the lawsuit. Tracy then turned around and tried to give it to Brook Lynn so she wouldn’t have to worry about a career in music anymore. Although Brook Lynn initially refused to accept it, she soon changed her mind and Tracy and Lucy were at each other’s throats every time they were in the office together. Tracy flew to Amsterdam with Bobbie Spencer to help settle Luke’s affairs and then returned to Port Charles alone. She was upset that no one told her Ned was back to normal and also not super excited that Lois was visiting. She then realized that Lucy and Scott were plotting against her and vowed they wouldn’t succeed!
After making a sizable donation to convince Mrs. Muldoon to drop the malpractice suit against Dr. Hamilton Finn, Tracy kept Lois from taking over Brook Lynn’s wedding. She stirred the pot by making Martin think Lucy and Scott were having an affair but then they basically did so he dumped her anyway and Lucy and Scott’s scheme blew up in their faces. Tracy was disappointed when Gregory invited Alexis to be his date for Brook Lynn’s wedding, and she later had a conversation with her granddaughter about running Deception. Seeing how Cody Bell acted with James, Tracy saw a new side to the Quartermaine’s stablehand. She also struck up another friendship with Stella Ashford.
After Brook Lynn and Chase’s wedding, Tracy was heartbroken to learn that Gregory had passed away in his sleep. Seeing how the grief had knocked Finn off the wagon, Tracy gave joined others in giving her friend some tough love but like with the others, he pushed everyone away. After Finn finally agreed to go to rehab, Tracy invited Brook Lynn and Chase to move into the mansion with Violet so there would be plenty of family around.
Stay tuned to find out what happens next!
